N.J. nursing home fined for repeatedly hanging up on deaf woman

A Passaic County nursing home will pay a deaf woman $2,500 to settle allegations one of its workers repeatedly hung up on her when she called using a telephone relay service, officials said Wednesday.

Atrium Post Acute Care of Wayne is also subject to a suspended $10,000 fine, which can be reinstated if the company commits further violations within two years or fails to train staffers on state laws against discrimination, according to New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal.

In a complaint to the state’s Division of Civil Rights, Nicole Perkins said she was working as a caseworker/advocate at St. Joseph’s Health Care System in Paterson on May 25, 2016 when she attempted to contact the nursing home to obtain medical records of a client, who is also deaf.

In placing her call, Perkins enlisted the aid of a video relay service known as Purple Communications, according to the complaint. The service communicates with the deaf via text message or FaceTime and sign language. The service operator places the call to the intended recipient, announcing that the call is being made on behalf of a deaf person.

Perkins told state civil rights investigators that on her first try a male voice refused to accept the call, saying “I’m not responsible,” before hanging up. The Purple Communications service operator called back several more times, Perkins said.

Each time, the same male voice refused to accept the call and refused to disclose his name, Perkins said.

Based on her complaint, state civil rights investigators obtained telephone records from Purple Communications that showed the relay operator had called Atrium Post Acute Care five times within a nine-minute span on the afternoon Perkins said she tried to get through.

“In interviews with division investigators, Atrium employees – including two female receptionists tasked with answering the telephones on a regular basis – expressed a lack of familiarity with relay-service-assisted calls,” Grewal said in a statement. “One male employee who said he covers the telephones during receptionist breaks said he may have hung up on what he thought was an automated or ‘robo’ call.”

The division issued a probable cause finding earlier this year and said it was concerned about the lack of awareness at Atrium Post Acute Care. Under terms of the settlement announced Wednesday, Atrium denies any wrongdoing.

Supervisors at the nursing home did not immediately respond Thursday morning to a request for comment.

In addition to the $2,500 fine, the nursing home must arrange training for all employees and company officers on the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. The training must include education on telecommunications relay services and other assistive communication devices and technology used by persons who are deaf or hearing impaired, Grewal said.

“This case should serve as a message to healthcare facilities and other businesses around the state that we are serious about promoting and protecting the rights of persons with disabilities,” Grewal said in a statement. “This was a troubling case because there simply is no excuse for a nursing home – of all places – to repeatedly refuse to accept a telephone call from an operator calling on behalf of a deaf person."